News, events and stories from Oglethorpe University

Main menu

Tag Archives: Atlanta college

John Burke, a 2011 Oglethorpe University graduate, released his first solo piano album this past fall. The OU Blog recently caught up with him to see how he managed to reach such a milestone so early in his career.

OU Blog: Congratulations on your new album! Tell us about it.

John: The album came out in October. It’s called “Synesthesia” and my goal was to provoke a sense of colors through music. All songs are named after colors and the album has a psychological edge to it that tests your mind while you’re enjoying the music.

It’s an instrumental album and I wrote and composed all the tracks. It took me about a year and a half to complete it. I actually found my inspiration during a study abroad trip to Spain I took while at OU.

OU Blog: So, Oglethorpe helped your development as an artist?

John: Yes. I chose OU because of its size and tight knit community. Looking back, I do not see myself being anywhere else but OU. I majored in Spanish and minored in Music. I also sang in the choir. Oglethorpe made it easy for me to balance between full academic load and music practice by providing access to the piano room on campus. I was able to steal little increments of time between classes to practice. It is a great place to thrive.

OU Blog: How did your love for music begin?

John: It started during my senior year in high school. My friends and I started a rock-and-roll/blues band named “Vinyl”. I had no formal schooling in music before OU. I just listened to music and tried to apply it by ear.

OU Blog: Impressive! What was the first tune you learned on piano?

John: The first tune I learned must have been “Imagine” by John Lennon. My favorite thing to play now is George Winston, whom I consider to be the most influential pianist in my life.

OU Blog: What’s your dream stage to perform on? Dream duet?

John: I would love to perform at Carnegie Hall. And a dream duet would be with Ray Manzarek, keyboardist for The Doors—piano and organ. And I would also love to compose an album for a blockbuster movie. I dream big. The sky is the limit.

OU Blog: You are obviously very talented. Do you have musical genes in your family?

John: My father is a musician; he currently leads and directs a band at church. He is my role model and motivation, and I can honestly say that if it were not for him I would not be where I am today.

OU Blog: How often and for how long do you practice? What advice would you give beginner musicians?

John: I practice every day, on a good day between 2-4 hours. Beginners, and even those with experience, should not stop practicing and always try new things and different styles. Practice and variety help you grow as an artist.

OU Blog: Music is a big part of your life. Do you have any other musical initiatives?

John: Yes, I am a choir director at a church in Brookhaven, and I have also taught music theory, reading music and also piano. I would like to spend more time teaching music and sharing my passion for it. It is very rewarding to reveal the beauty of music to someone else.

The album is available at www.johnburkemusic.com. John’s music also airs on Best Smooth Jazz and Best Smooth Grooves, two radio stations in the United Kingdom.

As an international student at Oglethorpe, I felt it important to make the absolute most of my experience here in Atlanta, which is why I choose to volunteer at PATH Academy. I tried to make it to the DeKalb County charter school every week to help out in a 5th grade classroom with language arts teacher Ms. McCombs.

As I was talking to the students about college life and the different languages I was learning, it struck me that every single child in the class spoke or understood at least two languages already. We discussed the great advantage of this and how they would be able to benefit from it in their future. I asked them in how many languages they were able to say “hello” and I was surprised to see how many students were eager to show off their knowledge on the white board. I watched as a number of students came up and wrote words from “Bonjour” to “Ni Hao” to “Hola.” I then told them about Belgium, my homeland, and they asked me to teach them French words.

Their excitement was really heartwarming. One thing was for sure: the interest in foreign languages was definitely there! I thought that as their brains were already accustomed to constantly switching from one language to the other, why not use that skill as much as possible?

I told my story to Peyton Healy in the Oglethorpe Center for Civic Engagement, who coordinates all volunteer placements at “OUr partner school,” and she offered to help me to set up an International Languages Fair to get the students even more interested in foreign languages. I recruited a group of both international and American OU students and was thrilled to see how many were happy to help.

At the Academy, we set up five different stations, each representing a different country. France, Spain, Germany, Turkey and China were all represented by two Oglethorpe students of different origins.

Passport for France

The 32 PATH Academy students were each handed makeshift passports at the beginning of the fair, indicating the order in which they would be “flying” to the different countries. As they traveled along the five different stations, their passports were stamped and they learned interesting facts about the respective countries, as well as a few basic words in all the languages. Various activities were organized for the small groups as they rotated from station to station. For example, in Germany, students made Christmas stockings out of brown paper bags. For Spain’s station, they were taught basic flamenco moves and in China, they learned to draw Chinese characters.

Where in the world is France?

They spent 10 minutes at each station and we’d ask them questions about what they had learned about the country. The first students to answer correctly got to place their name in a raffle box. At the end of the fair, five lucky students received great prizes related to the various countries.

Thanks to the great work by the Center for Civic Engagement staff as well as both international and American Oglethorpe student involvement, the languages fair was a great success and the team of teachers at PATH academy all were very pleased. More importantly, the kids really enjoyed it and loved interacting with college students from different cultural backgrounds.

Attention Oglethorpe students: Are you interested in volunteering at the PATH Academy? Learn more at an orientation and information session this Wednesday, January 25, 12 noon – 1:30 p.m. in the Center for Civic Engagement. Contact Peyton Healy at phealy@oglethorpe.edu for more information.

"Can you show me how to find it on the map?"

Turkish International student, Arzu, helping PATH students with their bird masks